mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i made clear yesterday that based on conversations with andy card , the president 's staff director , i have agreed to withdraw this amendment pending the administration 's getting together with the leadership of the committee on appropriations and working out a process by which activities of the department of defense that are classified will in fact be communicated to the congress . 
i am not just talking about after the fact ; i am talking about a communication prior to the activities . 
i simply want to read one sentence from an article that appeared in the new yorker about this matter . 
it reads as follows : `` the intelligence system is now designed to put competing agencies in competition . 
what is missing will be the dynamic tension that ensures everyone 's priorities in the cia , the dod , the fbi and even the department of homeland security . 
the most insidious implication of the new system is that the secretary of defense no longer has to tell people what he is doing so they can ask , `why are you doing this ? 
what are your priorities ? 
' now he can keep all of the mattress mice out of it. '' well , if the congress considers itself to be mattress mice , then they will not be concerned about the reports that we hear about the department of defense 's activities . 
if the congress takes seriously its obligation to exercise the power of the purse , which is one of only two real powers that we have outside of actual legislating , and if the congress feels we have an obligation to this institution that transcends our obligation to the committees on which we serve , then the congress will see to it that the executive branch understands that we are not trying to dictate what they do ; we are simply trying to see to it that what they do is consistent with american values and will not get the country in trouble in the first place . 
